An excerpt from the message Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1 Dr. John MacArthur. You can listen to and download the entire sermon as well as the transcript at http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/90-334.

Now here comes the real irony. This is the real irony. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election, that’s the Reformed, and they are typically amillennial, those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election regarding the church and its inviolable place in God’s purpose from predestination before the foundation of the world to glorification in the future, those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election, those who most aggressively, most militantly, and most capably defend the truth of Scripture regarding this election being divine, unilateral, unconditional, irrevokable by nature for the church, that’s for us, so that whatever God chose to do, He will do, that whatever He began to do He will complete, those who will defend that to their last breath, God’s irrevokable, unconditional, unilateral, sovereign election will bring those He has chosen to the fulfillment of all that He has promised them. They will die for that truth regarding the church, but unashamedly abandon that same truth for the elect nation of Israel.

Why? It’s the same God, same terminology. Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory, that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. In similar language, Scripture affirms the perpetuity of ethnic Israel to a future salvation and a future Kingdom as a race of people and that in that salvation and in that Kingdom will be the fulfillment of all divine promises given to them in the Old Testament, repeated in the New Testament and through them to the world. Whether you’re talking about the church as God’s elect, or Israel as God’s elect, both are God’s elect. And again I say, His election is divine, unilateral, unconditional, and irrevokable. So, I told the pastors at the conference, the title of this talk is, “Why every self-respecting Calvinist has to be a pre-millennialist.” Because, if you believe in divine sovereign election, then you have to believe that if God will be faithful to His promises to His church, He will also be faithful to His promises to His elect nation Israel.

Now frankly it’s too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist in heaven. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. But, you know, of all the people on the planet who should be premillennialists, it should be those who believe in divine sovereign election, of all people Arminians, not Armenians, that’s different. Those who follow Arminius did not believe in election. Arminius did not believe in election. Those who follow him do not believe in election, that is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan Movement, Charismatic Movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation.

Now they make perfect amillennialists. That’s a perfect setup for them. God doesn’t choose you, you choose Him. You can choose Him and then not choose Him, and then choose Him again and then not choose Him. You make the decision and so all of the promises of God are conditional on you. Amillennialism really seems to fit them. But not us who live and breathe the rarified air of sovereign grace and election, it makes no sense to me.